General Energy News

Iran’s gas output has risen 35 percent compared with 2012, the oil minister said on Monday. “In the first ten months of the (Iranian) year (starting from March), Iran produced on average 840 million cubic metres of gas a day, showing a 35 percent increase compared with 2012,” Bijan Zanganeh was quoted by the oil ministry’s news agency SHANA as saying. Zanganeh also said that Iran’s gas production from South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, has reached 600 million cubic metres a day. The offshore field, which Iran calls ...

Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) continued to fall this week as importers in North Asia have largely finished their purchases for winter, but losses were stemmed as plants closed for maintenance. Spot prices for March delivery to Asia LNG-AS this week slipped to $8.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down 10 cents from the previous week, trade sources said. Prices for cargoes to be delivered in the second-half of February were estimated at about $8.35 per mmBtu, they added. Several buyers in Japan and China, the ...

Tunisia will almost double production of natural gas to about 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day this year, the industry and energy minister, Slim Feriani, told Reuters on Friday. The country’s gas output will jump from 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) when the southern Nawara gas field comes onstream in June, Feriani said. “We will raise our production by about 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent when the Nawara project in the south will start,” Feriani told Reuters in interview. This project will be jointly owned by ...

Last August I warned that a Natural Gas Price Spike May Be Looming. The reason for the warning was that natural gas in storage – which the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports every Thursday – had fallen to abnormally low levels just ahead of high-demand season. Indeed, natural gas inventories remained low throughout the fall, and by November prices had spiked by 60%. By late November, it seemed that prices were destined to hit the $5 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) level. However, the price peaked about the time ...

Restrictions imposed by eastern China’s Shandong provincial government on the production, sales and procurement of oil products would likely have limited impact on the operations of the province’s independent refiners and blenders for now, company sources said this week. The provincial government this week released a list strictly reiterating restrictions throughout the entire value chain, ranging from the production and usage of oil products, requiring oil companies to operate under their respective licenses, produce qualified materials, and to supply consumers with fuels meeting standards. Shandong has also mandated nine provincial ...

The global refining industry will face a “challenging” 2019, the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly report Friday. The sector will have to absorb 2.6 million b/d of new capacity this year, “its largest annual increase since the 1970s”. Further adding to the woes of the industry, some of the 2018 new capacity is only now “ramping up”, “intensifying competition between established refineries.” However, despite the downside pressure on margins in December, caused by record high refining throughput of 84.2 million b/d, further out the prospects for margins ...

The spot price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia has completely missed its usual winter peak, with much of the blame being laid at the door of milder-than-usual temperatures trimming demand. That sounds perfectly plausible, but doesn’t quite tally with the fact that delivered volumes into the major consuming region of Northeast Asia hit a record-high in December. A total of 20.25 million tonnes of the super-chilled fuel were delivered in December to the region, which includes the top three consumers of Japan, China and South Korea, according to ...

British wholesale gas prices were mixed on Friday morning in slow trade, with the day-ahead up on increased consumption and the weekend and month-ahead contracts down on oversupply. * The day-ahead gas price was 0.95 pence higher at 62.10 pence per therm at 0913 GMT * “Cold weather with temperatures below seasonal normal came to the UK yesterday,” said Refinitiv gas analyst Marina Tsygankova * “The latest (forecast) confirms an extended cold spell lasting through February with temperatures at the end of month colder than previously assumed,” she said * ...

Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) is on track to be a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) super power by 2030 according to the regional government. Paul Tyrell, head of the NT Government’s Gas Task Force, said that he is optimistic the territory will be a world-class hub for gas production, manufacturing and services by the 2030 deadline set for him by Chief Minister Michael Gunner. “The Territory is well on the way and 2019 should see considerable progress and there is good reason to be confident in the Territory’s future,” he ...

Saudi Arabia plans to build an oil refinery and a petrochemicals plant in South Africa as part of $10 billion of investments in the country, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Friday. Saudi oil would be used in the planned refinery whose construction would be led by state energy company Saudi Aramco, Al-Falih said in comments following a meeting with South African Energy Minister Jeff Radebe in Pretoria. “There have been exchanges of talks by Saudi Aramco teams and they have been supported by the South African energy ministry,” ...

The US National Weather Service said Thursday that it expects colder-than-average temperatures in February across much of the Midwest and the Southeast, a bullish forecast for natural gas demand. The agency’s month-ahead outlook calls for an elevated 33% to 40% probability of colder weather in states extending from the Mississippi Valley and the Upper Midwest eastward toward the Atlantic Coast. In the Northeast, another key heating-demand region, there’s an equal probability for above- and below-average temperatures in February, the weather service said. Warmer weather across the Rockies and the West ...

According to ESAI Energy’s recently released Europe Watch Products, European jet fuel demand will rise by just 30,000 b/d this year, compared with 60,000 and 80,000 b/d in 2018 and 2017, respectively, as growth in both passenger and freight air traffic continues to slow. Nevertheless, jet fuel will continue to account for the vast majority of total distillate demand growth in the region. The Europe Watch Products report points out that last year, jet fuel was singlehandedly responsible for Europe’s distillate demand growth. Regional jet fuel demand rose by 60,000 ...

EIA’s January 2019 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) expects several U.S. natural gas market trends from 2018 to continue into 2019 and 2020, including relatively stable Henry Hub natural gas prices and increasing natural gas production and exports. According to the STEO, total U.S. natural gas consumption is expected to increase slightly through 2020, with increases in the electric and industrial sectors offsetting decreases in the residential and commercial sectors. EIA expects the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub natural gas spot price to average $2.89 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in ...

British wholesale gas prices rose on Thursday morning as previously forecasted colder temperatures set in, lifting gas demand for heating. * The day-ahead gas price was 1.50 pence higher at 60.75 pence per therm at 0837 GMT, while gas for immediate delivery was up by 1.75 pence at 60.00 p/therm * Gas for delivery on working days next week was 1.70 pence higher at 61.90 p/therm * Prices are higher due to increased consumption as colder weather has hit Britain, traders said * Temperatures are forecast to remain below the ...

Royal Dutch Shell will begin “major maintenance work” on a number of units at its Pernis oil refinery in Rotterdam beginning on 25 January, the major said on Thursday. The maintenance is expected to last two months and at its peak will require 3,000 extra workers at the site, Shell said. Shell did not specify the units involved in the turnaround. The refinery is Europe’s largest and has the capacity to process 404,000 barrels per day of crude. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; editing by Jason Neely)